LIBRARY OF STRATEGIES
Add an instructor to the pipeline
Root Cause: Students are leaving course sequences due to staffing or personnel decisions
Area of Opportunity: Staff
Lever of Change: Persistence
SCENARIO
A teacher has taught Spanish 2 for multiple years, but very few students sign up for the next year of Spanish 3. By adding a new staff member to teach Spanish 2, the school provides additional options for students to enroll. If this new staff member successfully improves enrollment yield and results, it becomes a powerful tool for conversation.
Strategy overview
When school leaders rely solely on a seniority system to allow teachers’ years-of-experience as the guiding factor to teach advanced classes because they “earned it,” opportunities are often lost to allow the most promising teachers to make the largest achievement gains with students. School leaders have the opportunity to disrupt school staffing cultures where tradition in the master schedule determines who gets to teach which courses.
Leaders can make strategic moves to add new instructors to the pipeline based on allowing teachers who invest in student growth as a primary focus of teaching. These are teachers who not only increase enrollment in their classes, but have proven student achievement results that continuously demonstrate gains. They are motivated to grow professionally and they continuously work to perfect their craft. Like student growth, teacher growth must be nurtured with opportunities for collaboration and professional development.
When do this
Recruitment for new instructors is ongoing. However, when the registration process begins around December or January, this is the critical time to make some staffing decisions prior to students selecting courses for the upcoming year. Once the teacher change is made public, this provides an opportunity to impact student course selection. The new instructor can also assist in student recruitment which has the potential to significantly boost student enrollment.
In the spring, when staff members are assigned courses for the upcoming school year, allow enough time for the newly selected staff member to access professional development and time to plan for the new course. There may also be an opportunity to post the position externally with recruitment and hiring outside of your school allowing for the arrival of new talent.
Implementation considerations
Begin with data:
- Use Abl Analytics to look for low course enrollment patterns
- Look at performance scores in high school courses like AP to determine how many students are achieving college credit.
- Complete a cross analysis of course grades compared to AP / college in the high school final exams. Do the students’ grades align with the external final exam scores? In classes with high passing grades, is this evidence of learning or grade inflation?
Consider teacher efficacy:
- Student input is crucial. Counselors often hear students’ concerns about teachers and courses. When counselors notice recurring issues, they should discuss them with school leadership to find solutions, which might lead to a teacher change.
- Each year, give teachers the chance to list the top three classes they’d love to teach. This allows them to express their goals without feeling like they’re competing with colleagues.
- Actively recruit teachers. Teachers appreciate when a principal personally acknowledges their strengths and potential. Investing time in these conversations helps build a staff committed to fostering a college-going culture.
Transition staff:
- When outstanding veteran teachers retire, include them in a plan to help onboard new teachers. Some schools use co-teaching or mentoring programs to prepare new staff for their roles and curriculum.
- Before course registration, let teachers inform students of their teaching assignments for the next year. Students may be more likely to enroll in a course if they know a favorite, high-quality teacher is leading it.
- Use competition as a tool. For example, if one teacher’s Spanish 3 classes are full while another’s are not, it can prompt discussions about course assignments and what influences student enrollment.
- When replacing a teacher who will stay in the building, provide a clear, honest explanation focused on the school’s goal of offering intense coursework with proven results. This can be a difficult conversation, but it’s important for the outgoing teacher to understand their role in the overall goal. Depending on how effectively the transition is handled, they can either become a barrier to achieving the school’s objectives or they may choose to improve their skills to return to an advanced classroom.
Additional resources
RESEARCH
Research shows that what teachers expect from their students often influences how well students perform. This paper shares new findings on how Grade 10 students felt their teachers’ expectations affected their academic results.
RESEARCH
This study measured the link between teacher effectiveness scores and student achievement in secondary schools. The results showed a moderately positive relationship between the two, also highlighting how students perceive teacher effectiveness.
